1 1/16/2014

Prepared by: Haval Ahmed Aqrawi

2 1/16/2014

Overview
• Importance of text in a multimedia presentation.

• Understanding fonts and typefaces.

• Using text elements in a multimedia presentation.

• Computers and text.

• Font editing and design tools.

• Multimedia and hypertext.

3 1/16/2014

Importance of Text in a
Multimedia Presentation
• Words and symbols in any form, spoken or
written, are the most common means of
communication.

• Text is a vital element of multimedia menus,

navigation systems, and content.
4 1/16/2014

Importance of Text in a
Multimedia Presentation
Factors affecting legibility of text:

• Size.

• Background and foreground color.

• Style.

• Leading.
5 1/16/2014

Understanding Fonts and

Typefaces
• A ‘typeface’ is a family of graphic characters that
usually includes many type sizes and styles.
Figure 4-1
The
• A ‘font’ is a collection of characters of a single
measurement
size and style belonging to a particular typefaceof type.
family.
6 1/16/2014

Understanding Fonts and

Typefaces
1. Font styles:

• Boldface

• Italic

• Underlining

• Outlining
7 1/16/2014

Understanding Fonts and

Typefaces
2. Font Sizes:

• Font size is measured in points.(1pt=0.138 inch)

• Character metrics are the general

measurements applied to individual
characters.

• Kerning is the spacing between character

pairs.

• Leading is the space between lines.

8 1/16/2014

Understanding Fonts and

Typefaces
3. Cases:

• A capitalized letter is referred to as 'uppercase',

while a small letter is referred to as 'lowercase.‘.

• Placing an uppercase letter in the middle of a

word is referred to as intercap.
9 1/16/2014

Understanding Fonts and

Typefaces
4. Serif Versus Sans Serif:

• Serif is the little decoration at the end of a

letter stroke.

• Serif fonts are used for body text.

• Sans serif fonts do not have a serif at the end

of a letter stroke.

• These fonts are used for headlines and bold

statements.
10 1/16/2014

Using Text Elements in a

Multimedia Presentation
The text elements used in multimedia are:

1. Menus for Navigation:

• A user navigates through content using a menu.

• A simple menu consists of a text list of topics.

11 1/16/2014

Using Text Elements in a

Multimedia Presentation

2. Interactive Buttons:

• A button is a clickable object that executes a

command when activated.

• Users can create their own buttons from

bitmaps and graphics.

• The design and labeling of the buttons should

be treated as an industrial art project.
12 1/16/2014

Using Text Elements in a

Multimedia Presentation
3. Fields for Reading:

• Reading a hard copy is easier and faster than

reading from the computer screen.

• A document can be printed in one of two

orientations - portrait or landscape.
13 1/16/2014

Using Text Elements in a

Multimedia Presentation
3. Fields for Reading (continued):

• The taller-than-wide orientation used for

printing documents is called portrait.

• The wider-than-tall orientation that is normal

to monitors is called landscape.
14 1/16/2014

Using Text Elements in a

Multimedia Presentation
4. HTML Documents:

• HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language.

• It is the standard document format used for

Web pages.

• HTML documents are marked using tags.

15 1/16/2014

Using Text Elements in a

Multimedia Presentation
4. HTML Documents (continued):

• An advanced form of HTML is DHTML.

• DHTML stands for Dynamic Hypertext Markup

Language.

• DHTML uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).

16 1/16/2014

Using Text Elements in a

Multimedia Presentation
4. HTML Documents (continued):

• Some of the commonly used tags are:

 The <B> tag for making text bold faced.

 The <OL> tag for creating an ordered list.

 The <IMG> tag for inserting images.

17 1/16/2014
Using Text Elements in a
Multimedia Presentation

5. Symbols and Icons:

• Symbols are concentrated text in the form of stand-

alone graphic constructs.

• They are used to convey meaningful messages.

• Symbols used to convey human emotions are called

emoticons.

• Icons are symbolic representations of objects and

processes.
18 1/16/2014

Figure 4-3
Some symbols are easily recognized but
may still require text titles; “smiley”
symbols, or emoticons, used in internet
conversation to express mood, are
made up entirely of text and
punctuation characters.
19 1/16/2014

Using Text Elements in a

Multimedia Presentation
• Anti-aliased text must be used when a gentle and
blended look for titles and headlines is needed.

• Ideas and concepts can be highlighted by making

the text bold or by emphasizing text.

• A pleasant look can be created by experimenting

with different font faces, sizes, leadings, and
kerning.
20 1/16/2014

Computers and Text

1. The font wars:

a. PostScript:
• PostScript is a method of describing an

image in terms of mathematical constructs.

• PostScript characters are scalable and can

be drawn much faster.

21 1/16/2014

Computers and Text

a. PostScript (continued):

• The two types of PostScript fonts are Type 3 and

Type1.

• Adobe developed Adobe Type Manager for

displaying PostScript fonts on both Macintosh

and Windows.
22 1/16/2014

Figure 4-4
Anti-aliasing text and
graphics creates
“smooth” boundaries
between colors. The
top row of letters is
not anti-aliased; the
bottom row is.
23 1/16/2014

Computers and Text

b. TrueType:

• Apple and Microsoft

developed the TrueType
methodology.

• TrueType is a system of
scalable outline fonts, and
can draw characters at low
resolution.
24 1/16/2014

Computers and Text

2. Character sets:

• The American Standard Code for Information

Interchange (ASCII) is a 7-bit coding system.

• The extended character set is commonly filled

with ANSI standard characters.

• The ISO-Latin-1 character set is used while

programming the text of HTML pages.
25 1/16/2014

Figure 4-6
KeyCaps on
the Macintosh
and
Charmap.exe
in Windows let
you see which
key to press on
the keyboard
to print a
character in a
font face.
26 1/16/2014

Character Sets
• Unicode is a 16-bit architecture for multilingual
text and character encoding.

• The shared symbols of each character set are

unified into collections of symbols called scripts.
27 1/16/2014

Character Sets
Mapping across platforms:

• Fonts and characters are not cross-platform

compatible.

• They must be mapped to the other machine

using font substitution.
28 1/16/2014

Font Editing and Design Tools

Figure 4-7
Portion of a five-
language web site
using normal HTML
code for the Roman
languages and
screen-captured
graphic images to
display the Chinese
and Japanese
translations.
29 1/16/2014

Font Editing and Design Tools

1. Macromedia Fontographer:

• Fontographer is a specialized graphics editor.

• It is compatible with both Macintosh and

Windows platform.

• It can be used to develop PostScript,

TrueType, and bitmapped fonts.

• It can also modify existing typefaces and

incorporate PostScript artwork.
30 1/16/2014

Figure 4-8
Fontographer is a
powerful font
editor for
Macintosh and
Windows.
31 1/16/2014

Font Editing and Design Tools

2. Creating Attractive Texts:

• Applications that are used to enhance texts

and images include:

 Adobe Photoshop
 TypeStyler
 COOL 3D
 HotTEXT
 TypeCaster
32 1/16/2014

Figure 4-9
Image-editing
applications let
you make
pretty text.
33 1/16/2014

Figure 4-10
COOL 3D and
HotTEXT let you
extrude, wrap,
twist, and rotate
characters and
adjust lighting
and texture effects
for high-impact 3-
D titles.
34 1/16/2014

Multimedia and Hypertext

1. Multimedia:

• Multimedia is defined as the combination of

text, graphics, and audio elements into a
single presentation.

• When the user assumes control over the

presentation, it is called interactive
multimedia.

• Interactive multimedia becomes hypermedia

when a structure of linked elements is
provided to the user for navigation and
interaction.
35 1/16/2014

Multimedia and Hypertext

2. Hypertext System:

• Hypertext is defined as the organized cross-

linking of words, images, and other Web
elements.

• A system in which words are keyed or indexed

to other words is referred to as a hypertext
system.

• A hypertext system enables the user to

navigate through text in a non-linear way.
36 1/16/2014

Using Hypertext Systems:

• Information management and hypertext

programs present electronic text, images, and
other elements in a database fashion.

• Software robots visit Web pages and index entire

Web sites.
37 1/16/2014

Using Hypertext Systems:

• Hypertext databases make use of proprietary

indexing systems.

• Server-based hypertext and database engines

are widely available.
38 1/16/2014

Searching for words:

Typical methods for word searching in hypermedia
systems are:

• Categorical search

• Word relationship

• Adjacency

• Alternates

• Association
39 1/16/2014

Multimedia and Hypertext

Typical methods for word searching in hypermedia
systems are (continued):

• Negation

• Truncation

• Intermediate words

• Frequency
40 1/16/2014

Multimedia and Hypertext

5. Hypermedia Structures:

a. Links:

• Links are connections between conceptual

elements.

• Links are the navigation pathways and menus.

41 1/16/2014

Multimedia and Hypertext

5. Hypermedia Structures (continued):

b. Nodes:

• Nodes are accessible topics, documents,

messages, and content elements.

• Nodes and links form the backbone of a

knowledge access system.
42 1/16/2014

Multimedia and Hypertext

5. Hypermedia Structures (continued):

c. Anchors:

• Anchor is defined as the reference from one

document to another document, image, sound,
or file on the Web.

• The source node linked to the anchor is referred

to as a link anchor.

• The destination node linked to the anchor is

referred to as a link end.
43 1/16/2014

Multimedia and Hypertext

5. Hypermedia Structures (continued):

d. Navigating Hypermedia Structures:

• The simplest way to navigate hypermedia

structures is via buttons.

• Location markers must be provided to make

navigation user-friendly.
44 1/16/2014

Hypertext Tools
The functions of ‘builder’ are:

• Creating links.

• Identifying nodes.

• Generating an index of words.

45 1/16/2014

Hypertext Tools
Hypertext systems are used for:

• Electronic publishing and reference works.

• Technical documentation.

• Educational courseware.

• Interactive kiosks.

• Electronic catalogs.
46 1/16/2014

Summary
• Text is one of the most important elements of multimedia.

• The standard document format used for Web pages is

called HTML.

• Multimedia is the combination of text, graphics, and audio

elements into a single presentation.

• A hypertext system enables the user to navigate through

text in a non-linear way.